PEORIA — Charter Oak Primary School Principal John Wetterauer will be placed on special assignment and transferred to another school while two Charter Oak special education teachers will be transferred and given remedial warnings in the wake of Peoria School District 150's investigation of misconduct in how standardized tests were administered to special education students at the school.

Wetterauer will retain the same salary. He had been on paid administrative leave since December.

The remedial warnings mean the two teachers — Deborah Lowe and Joan Schifeling — could be dismissed if they incur any other infractions.

Two other Charter Oak teachers, who were not named at Monday night's District 150 board meeting, also will be disciplined. Their discipline will be decided by the administration under the guidelines on the union contract and does not require board approval. They will remain at Charter Oak.

The board's decision in the other cases was unanimous, as shown by its acceptance of both the human resources report, where Wetterauer's transfer was reported, and the deliberation agenda, which included resolutions on issuing the remedial warnings.

But the controversy unleashed by the board's initial investigation of testing irregularities at Charter Oak is not over.

Teachers' union president Jeff Adkins-Dutro and Dan Dugal, chairman of a special action committee of Charter Oak parents and teachers, said they want to build a citywide coalition to elect a new board that would subsequently hire a new superintendent.

"We want change now," Dugal said, "but if it takes turning over the board, then that's what it takes."

Adkins-Dutro agreed. "Our mission is to flip the board and get them out of here." He said the union also plans to file a grievance on behalf of the Charter Oak teachers.

District 150 Board President Rick Cloyd said the board could have taken stronger action against Wetterauer, including demotion or termination, but chose not to. Wetterauer did not take the board up on its offer to meet before it made a decision, Cloyd said.

"This case is about a principal's lack of leadership and his failure to provide the direction, training and oversight that are part of every principal's job in District 150," said Cloyd, reading a prepared statement.

Lowe and Schifeling, the two teachers given remedial warnings, could have been suspended without pay for up to 30 days, according to Cloyd.

"Both teachers had many years of experience and reported to violating ISAT testing protocol in administering the assessment to their special education students."

District 150 has sent the results of its preliminary investigation to the Illinois State Board of Education. Cloyd said he did not have a timetable on when the state board's investigation could be completed, though other board members have said it could take a while.

Page 2 of 2 - A state investigation could result in a ruling to suppress test scores for the 26 students in question and revocation of certifications for the educators.

Near-zero temperatures apparently resulted in a smaller turnout for the School Board meeting compared to the last two when several hundred people packed Von Steuben Middle School gym in support of Wetterauer. But there was no less passion among the nine speakers, most of whom suggested Superintendent Grenita Lathan has created a climate of fear in District 150.

"The district quickly turned a molehill into a colossal disaster," Adkins-Dutro said to a standing ovation.

Cloyd incurred the group's ire as he tried to hold each speaker to the two-minute time limit for speakers as well as when he required one speaker to sit as she spoke, though she wanted to stand.

Still, he said after the meeting, no one on the board or in the administration took pleasure in the investigation or subsequent discipline of Charter Oak staff members.

Charter Oak, consistently one of the district's top-performing schools, was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2012.